Job summary
Permanent | 22.5 hours per week
We're looking for an enthusiastic and experienced Clinical Psychologist to join our Sheffield Parent-Infant Relationship Service (PAIRS). PAIRS is a specialist team dedicated to supporting families with complex emotional, behavioural, and developmental difficulties, with a focus on early intervention to foster healthy parent-infant relationships.
PAIRS is a small, passionate team of psychologists, psychotherapists, specialist health visitors, and infant mental health practitioners. We work with a wide network of professionals across Health, Local Authority, and Third Sector services to ensure every baby in Sheffield has the best start in life.
About You: You will demonstrate initiative and creativity to help improve the service, ideally with prior experience in this field. Strong communication skills and an understanding of systemic dynamics when working with complex families are essential. You should also be adept at collaborating within professional networks, encouraging respectful multi-agency relationships, and managing your workload by prioritising key tasks and intervention goals.
Main duties of the job
Reporting into the Clinical Psychologist, your responsibilities will include:
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Provide specialist psychological assessments and community-based therapeutic interventions to support parent/caregiver and infant relationships.
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Work with colleagues across Health Visiting, Midwifery, Perinatal Mental Health Teams, Local Authority Early Years, Children's Social Care, IAPT, and Third Sector services.
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Offer clinical consultation and advice to professionals to promote understanding of infant mental health and parent-infant relationships.
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Contribute to training and education initiatives across agencies to enhance awareness and skills related to infant mental health.
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Autonomously manage assessment, treatment planning, and discharge of clients, applying evidence-based psychological models.
About us
At Sheffield Children's, our purpose is clear: to provide healthier futures for children and young people. Our three strategic aims are Outstanding Patient Care, Brilliant Place to Work, and Leaders in Children's Health.
We work with partners across local, regional, and national levels to deliver physical and mental healthcare in both acute and community settings. Many of our clinicians are nationally and internationally recognised for their expertise.
We're proud that 73% of colleagues would recommend Sheffield Children's as a place to work, placing us among the top five NHS trusts in England -- and the top-ranked trust in the North East and Yorkshire -- in the latest NHS Staff Survey.
Our nearly 4,000 colleagues bring our CARE values -- Compassion, Accountability, Respect, and Excellence -- to life every day, creating a kind, welcoming environment where patients and families feel safe and supported.
As we approach our 150th anniversary in 2026, we're excited to keep building our leadership in children's health, improve experiences for patients and staff, and focus on our communities and population health.
We also offer excellent benefits to support your wellbeing, with generous annual leave and pension schemes, health and wellbeing programmes, and exclusive discounts -- helping you thrive at work and beyond.
Job description
Job responsibilities
For more information on the main responsibilities for this post, please refer to the job description and person specification.
Please note that Sheffield Children's uplift pay to meet the Real Living Wage, which is £12.60 per hour.
Diversity Statement
At Sheffield Childrens, we are committed to creating an inclusive environment that celebrates diversity and supports everyones success. We prioritise Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion in our recruitment practices, creating a welcoming space for people of all backgrounds, including ethnic minorities, individuals with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ members.
Recognising that inclusivity is an ongoing effort, we review our processes and welcome feedback to enhance our practices. A diverse team strengthens our organisation and the quality of care we deliver. For ideas on how we can improve, please contact our Recruitment Manager at scn-tr.recruitment.team@nhs.net. Together, were building a workplace where everyone belongs.
#LI-Hybrid
Job description
Job responsibilities
For more information on the main responsibilities for this post, please refer to the job description and person specification.
Please note that Sheffield Children's uplift pay to meet the Real Living Wage, which is £12.60 per hour.
Diversity Statement
At Sheffield Childrens, we are committed to creating an inclusive environment that celebrates diversity and supports everyones success. We prioritise Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion in our recruitment practices, creating a welcoming space for people of all backgrounds, including ethnic minorities, individuals with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ members.
Recognising that inclusivity is an ongoing effort, we review our processes and welcome feedback to enhance our practices. A diverse team strengthens our organisation and the quality of care we deliver. For ideas on how we can improve, please contact our Recruitment Manager at scn-tr.recruitment.team@nhs.net. Together, were building a workplace where everyone belongs.
#LI-Hybrid
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Doctoral level training in clinical psychology, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the BPS
- Experience - in addition to a single training placement - of clinical work with children and families with healthcare needs
- Registration with HCPC as a clinical psychologist (or other domain title as agreed).
Desirable
- Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology
- Certification in a relevant therapeutic model e.g., Video Interactive Guidance, Watch, Wait and Wonder, Circle of Security Parenting, Mellow Bumps.
- Specialist training in parent infant mental health and/or attachment or perinatal mental health.
Experience
Essential
- Experience of specialist psychological assessment and therapeutic interventions with children and young people, and their families
- Experience of working with a wide variety of child mental health and well-being problems, across the whole age range, reflecting all levels of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems and verbal and physical abuse
Desirable
- Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision.
- Experience of the application of clinical psychology in different cultural contexts
- Experience of working with children and young people in a range of clinical settings
- Experience of working with children and families within the area of work specific to this post.
Knowledge and Skills
Essential
- Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration
- Well developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS
- Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups
- Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology
- Some knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health.
Desirable
- Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. personality disorder, eating disorders, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities etc).
- High level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies
- Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in children within the post's specific client group
Personal Attributes
Essential
- Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
- Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.
- Commitment to multi-disciplinary team working - a team player.
Desirable
- Experience of working within a multicultural framework.
Person Specification
Qualifications
Essential
- Doctoral level training in clinical psychology, including specifically models of psychopathology, clinical psychometrics and neuropsychology, two or more distinct psychological therapies and lifespan developmental psychology as accredited by the BPS
- Experience - in addition to a single training placement - of clinical work with children and families with healthcare needs
- Registration with HCPC as a clinical psychologist (or other domain title as agreed).
Desirable
- Pre-qualification training and qualifications in research methodology, staff training and/or other fields of applied psychology
- Certification in a relevant therapeutic model e.g., Video Interactive Guidance, Watch, Wait and Wonder, Circle of Security Parenting, Mellow Bumps.
- Specialist training in parent infant mental health and/or attachment or perinatal mental health.
Experience
Essential
- Experience of specialist psychological assessment and therapeutic interventions with children and young people, and their families
- Experience of working with a wide variety of child mental health and well-being problems, across the whole age range, reflecting all levels of clinical severity including maintaining a high degree of professionalism in the face of highly emotive and distressing problems and verbal and physical abuse
Desirable
- Experience of teaching, training and/or supervision.
- Experience of the application of clinical psychology in different cultural contexts
- Experience of working with children and young people in a range of clinical settings
- Experience of working with children and families within the area of work specific to this post.
Knowledge and Skills
Essential
- Skills in the use of complex methods of psychological assessment, intervention and management frequently requiring sustained and intense concentration
- Well developed skills in the ability to communicate effectively, orally and in writing, complex, highly technical and/or clinically sensitive information to clients, their families, carers and other professional colleagues both within and outside the NHS
- Skills in providing consultation to other professional and non-professional groups
- Doctoral level knowledge of research methodology, research design and complex, multivariate data analysis as practiced within the clinical fields of psychology
- Some knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group and mental health.
Desirable
- Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in specific difficult to treat groups (e.g. personality disorder, eating disorders, dual diagnoses, people with additional disabilities etc).
- High level knowledge of the theory and practice of at least two specialised psychological therapies
- Knowledge of the theory and practice of specialised psychological therapies in children within the post's specific client group
Personal Attributes
Essential
- Ability to teach and train others, using a variety of complex multi-media materials suitable for presentations within public, professional and academic settings.
- Ability to identify and employ mechanisms of clinical governance as appropriate, to support and maintain clinical practice in the face of regular exposure to highly emotive material and challenging behaviour.
- Commitment to multi-disciplinary team working - a team player.
Desirable
- Experience of working within a multicultural framework.
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
Additional information
Disclosure and Barring Service Check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).
From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).
UK Registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see
NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).
